


Captioned

by FishLeather



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Retail, Sci-Fi, Speculative fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-07 01:19:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18862825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FishLeather/pseuds/FishLeather
Summary: To deal with various alien languages, some businesses use holographic captioning systems. The captions are for the customer's benefit, not the employee's.





	Captioned

The customer's insectoid eyes reflected the alien symbols appearing in front of me as I spoke. Every option, package, deal, and sale was reflected in those eyes as I explained the details. It was a one-way projector, so I wouldn't be distracted. Rarely did I get much of a glimpse at what customers saw. Every projector was different. This one apparently used a sort of dark pink. The twisted symbols were warped in those eyes, and when I finished my explanation, the words were swept away by an eerie, sideways blink. I suppressed a shudder when the reply came as a series of hisses and clicks emanating primarily from the customer's back. It was less than greek to me. I gestured loosely to the panel, and waited to see what product would need to be retrieved from the back.

It was genius, really. What better way to keep someone from fraternizing than to make all communications one-way? The irony wasn't lost on me that a human, the species famous for being many-tongued, was trapped in a place with no one that spoke a shared language. A docking station wasn't the worst place to end up, but it was torture knowing how many people were able to come and go at any time while I was forced to stay.

The alien eventually selected package 43-A, and I dutifully slipped away to retrieve it.


End file.
